Company X conducted a taste test to determine whether its new soft dri

Question

Company X conducted a taste test to determine whether its new soft drink had a good chance of commercial success. A sample of consumers was asked to compare the flavor of the new soft drink to that of an established brand without knowing the true identity of either beverage. Overwhelmingly, the consumers preferred the taste of the proposed soft drink to that of the established brand. Clearly, Company X has a good chance of commercial success with its new soft drink.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

A) Some of the consumers in the taste test preferred the flavor of the established brand.

B) The other soft drink used in the taste test is also manufactured by Company X.

C) The new soft drink will cost more than three times as much as any other soft drink on the market.

D) Company X has not yet designed a label for the new soft drink.

E) The name of the new soft drink is very close to that of the established brand.

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Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The correct answer is C.

The conclusion of the argument is "Company X has a good chance of commercial success with its new soft drink." Why? Because most consumers in the taste test preferred its flavor to that of an established brand. In order to weaken this argument, all we need to do is show that there may be some reason to doubt that the flavor will be enough for the drink to be successful. Choice C states that the new drink will be much more expensive than any other on the market. This does not prove that the drink will not be successful, but it does give a reason to suspect that it might not be.

sidhu09 · Answer

Since the new soft drink costs thrice as much as the established brand, to manufacture, even though the new soft drink is a success, the profit margin would be low for any given quantity sold. 
Quantity wise sales is a sure thing according to the study but it wont convert to commercial success.

Here  Commercial success   is the key word.

Hence C is the correct answer.

BeckyRobinsonTPR · Answer

This argument uses the reasoning pattern that because people say they prefer something then that product will be successful. It assumes that preferring the product will lead directly to purchasing the product. To weaken this type of argument, find a reason why people would not purchase the product, even if they prefer it over similar products.

Of the available answer choices, only C provides a different criteria (price) by which consumers could judge the product than thus decide not to purchase it.

Of the available answer choices, only C provides a different criteria (price) by which consumers could judge the product than thus decide not to purchase it.

Skag55 · Answer

Although I understand C, I question why not B:
The conclusion is that the company will have success with the new drink. 
What if the company is already successful with the old drink, and hence, with the new drink, the old one's sales drop whilst the new one's rise? Then the company will be even.
Hence there will be no actual change in the company's success.

Skywalker18 · Answer

Though it's too late to answer your query, I think that it can be helpful for someone with the same doubt.

The conclusion of the given argument is that Company X has a good chance of commercial success with its new soft drink . It does not discuss about overall profits of the company and is only concerned about the probability of success of its new drink.

rinkumaa4 · Answer

The reasoning partern and hence the conlusion is drawn on the basis of "Taste Test" . So can some one explain, how something out of scope can weakan the argument.

As some Q? (certainly not remebered, that's why not mentioned) are get cancelled as "weakener" because they described as out of scope.

Really Get confused....

Only1 · Answer

Hey,it's absolutely okay to have doubts. I'll try to help you out with this. Let's take an example. If I say that Mercedes Benz have good safety features and hence is the best car in the market. If I have to weaken this conclusion,then I can do it by two ways: 1) to prove that MB's safety features are not effective. Let's say maximum casualties. 2) provide additional info that can surpass our conclusion. For example: Jaguar attained 5star rating in collision tests however MB have 4star rating. Basically,second info is an outside information but is definitely not out of scope. If u find this helpful then don't forget to press the kudos button

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LoneSurvivor · Answer

Skywalker18  here in option C we are forcefully considering that the price of product have direct correlation with the sales of the product. I guess the assumption is flawed.

Skywalker18 · Answer

LoneSurvivor ,
Knowing that it is three times as expensive is a pretty strong reason why the drink may fail to sell very much although people like its' taste.
None of the other options are better than this one.

Anirudh134 · Answer

Hey i chose E in this assuming that the sample could have got confused with the name since both are very similar and ended up picking the new one when they wanted to pick the old one. Where am i going wrong ? why cant that be a possible scenario

godot53 · Answer

Please note the conclusion: "Company X has a good chance of commercial success with its new soft drink." - > that is, the net sales/revenue of the company's product portfolio will increase. had it been only relevant to "the new product", then your logic would have been perfect. if you look at option C -> "as any other soft drink on the market" gives a clear indication that no one will possibly buy this new drink. Cheers !

godot53 · Answer

In weaken/strengthen problems, you don't validate or destroy the argument. You just make them more or less likely to be true. Raise your criteria for elimination while dealing with Assumptions and Flaw questions, reduce it for St/wk questions and reduce it even further for "except" questions. Cheers !

Rumsus · Answer

Can someone explain why B is not the correct choice ?

NeverEverGiveUp11 · Answer

The argument is centered on the reasoning that "overwhelming preference to the new soft drink over the established brand indicates that there are good chances of commercial success of the new soft drink"

Here you need to weaken this. A possible weakener might be 
1. The people in the taste test are not representative of the overall consumers.
2. There can be other factors which author has not taken into account and such factors may come in the way of commercial success. (and this is were correct answer goes in line with our thought)

Option B is not directly affecting the reasoning. The reasoning doesn't depend on whether the established brand is of company X or any other company but does depend on the preference of consumers.

Spongeman · Answer

To determine which statement would most seriously weaken the argument that Company X has a good chance of commercial success with its new soft drink, we need to identify a factor that could significantly impact the soft drink's market performance despite the positive taste test results. The argument is built on the assumption that the taste test is a reliable indicator of potential market success.
Here's a breakdown of how each choice relates to the argument:
 (A) Some of the consumers in the taste test preferred the flavor of the established brand. 
 
 While this provides a contrary point to the general preference for the new drink, the statement that the preference for the new drink was "overwhelming" suggests that this minority preference may not substantially weaken the argument.  
 (B) The other soft drink used in the taste test is also manufactured by Company X. 
 
 This could suggest a lack of diversity in the taste test comparison, but it doesn't strongly impact the conclusion that the new drink could be commercially successful, as the preference was for the new drink over another product, regardless of the same manufacturer.  
 (C) The new soft drink will cost more than three times as much as any other soft drink on the market. 
 
 This is a significant factor. If the new soft drink is much more expensive than its competitors, this could seriously limit its marketability and consumer acceptance, regardless of its taste. High pricing, especially to this extent, can be a substantial barrier to commercial success.  
 (D) Company X has not yet designed a label for the new soft drink. 
 
 While marketing elements like label design are important, the absence of a label at the time of the taste test does not inherently weaken the argument about the drink's potential success based on its flavor.  
 (E) The name of the new soft drink is very close to that of the established brand. 
 
 This might cause some initial confusion or challenges in branding, but it does not directly weaken the assertion that the drink could be successful based on its flavor.  
Of these options,  (C) The new soft drink will cost more than three times as much as any other soft drink on the market  most directly and substantially weakens the argument. High pricing can be a decisive factor in the drink's market performance, potentially overshadowing positive taste test results.

Company X conducted a taste test to determine whether its new soft dri

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Company X conducted a taste test to determine whether its new soft dri

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